Introduction

On 16 June 2022, High Court of the Maldives issued its Regulation on Civil Procedure (Regulation no: 2022/R-101) (“Regulation”) which establishes a procedural framework for the civil matters before the High Court and ensures compliance with the rules established under the Civil Procedure Code (Act no: 32/2021).

The Regulation now has been revised on 6 December 2022 via the 1st amendment to the High Court’s Regulation on Civil Procedure (Regulation no: 2022/R-235) (“1st amendment”) which brought revision to the computation of appeal period for disputes submitted to the High Court and deadline for response submission.

This memo covers the notable revisions brought via the 1st amendment which are;

1. Computation of time for appeal submission under Section 37 (a) of the Regulation; and 
2. Deadline for response submission under section 40 (b) of the Regulation.

Computation of Time for Appeal Submission

Where the appeal period is 30 days, prior to the 1st amendment, public holidays and government holidays were excluded in computing the 30 days. However, with the 1st amendment, appeal period of 30 days shall include public holidays and government holidays in accordance with section 424 of the Civil Procedure Code and in line with the Interpretation Act.

Deadline for Response Submission

Prior to the 1st amendment, the High Court had to provide the respondent at least 14 days to file a response once the appeal is registered and the respondent receives the appeal documents. With the 1st amendment, the response submission period has been extended to 20 days. However, note that no changes were made to the five-day deadline for submission of response in cases involving interim injunctions.

Commentary

Prior to the 1st amendment, the High Court’s computation of the 30-day appeal period did not conform with the Civil Procedure Code. The first amendment gave uniformity to the law, eliminating complexity within the court system.

It should be noted, however, that section 424 of the Civil Procedure Code omits computation of 30-days. Such a statutory gap in law should be referred to the Interpretation Act, and the literal interpretation should be applied. This is the present practice in the courts for computing time under section 424 of the Civil Procedure Code.